“Oh, I’m sure she will,” Conleigh replied, looking amused. “She’s been…”
“Obsessed I think is the word you’re looking for, Conleigh,” Phoebe supplied helpfully. “Obsessed, and not able to talk about anything else but you.”
That made me insanely happy.
“And where is Pru?” I flipped my gaze up to look behind them.
Both of them grimaced as one.
“She’s with Kelley Lowe,” Phoebe muttered. “There was an incident today that she needed to discuss with a supervisor. Unfortunately, the only person available was him. We were going to wait out here for her to make sure that he didn’t keep her too long, but since you’re here…”
“Since I’m here, you can leave,” I added. “What’s wrong with this Kelley guy?”
I was fairly sure Phoebe’s lip couldn’t curl any farther in disgust if she tried.
“Kelley’s on the board of directors. He’s also the one above this one’s mom.” Conleigh gestured to Phoebe with her hand. “He also fancies himself…”
“God,” the security guard, whose name I hadn’t caught yet, replied.
I looked over at him in surprise.
“He’s a dick,” he continued.
Conleigh snorted. “That’s an understatement. He’s awful, and to make matters worse, he has the hots for both Pru and her mother.”
That set my blood on fire.
“Really?” I asked. “And does your dad know about this guy?”
Phoebe nodded. “Hates his guts, but since he’s my mom’s boss and the man that controls whether Mom has a good day at work or not, he’s nice. Even though he’d rather skin him with a pair of pliers—those are my dad’s words, not mine.”
I liked that she had to clarify that.
“She coming out here or am I going to have to go in there?” I wondered.
“You can go in there,” the security guard added. “I’ll take you to his office. You can hurry him along.”
I looked at Conleigh, who nodded in agreement. “He’ll try to keep her there for an hour. That’s why we weren’t going to leave, so she’d have a reason to blame her need to go on.”
I stood up off my bike and said, “Lead the way.”
I didn’t like that she was having to talk to some man that she didn’t like, nor was she particularly comfortable being around.
“Have a good night, ladies,” I rumbled as I passed.
“You, too!” they both chirped.
The security guard walked surprisingly fast for his old age, and I found myself in a long hallway just off the side of the ER. “First one on your left.”
I heard her before I saw her. She sounded annoyed as she explained something.
At first, I couldn’t hear what was being said, but as I got closer, I realized that something had happened that had put someone’s life in danger, and it’d all been because of some protocol that the dumbass had refused to support.
“…If we’d just had a sitter in the room with the psych patient, he wouldn’t have been able to gather anything to try to stab Rachelle with. As it is, she had to have four stitches because he stabbed her with a sharpened tongue depressor. If someone had been in there sitting with him, he wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“Listen, Prudence…”
“Pru. My name is Pru. It’s not shortened. It is what it is,” she said.
She didn’t snap it, but she might as well have.
“Pru,” the man who I assumed was Kelley said. “I realize that this was a bad experience…”
“A bad experience?” Pru sounded like she was about to lose her shit on the man. “This could’ve been awful. He could’ve stabbed her in the heart and not her arm. He could’ve done some serious damage. Then what would’ve happened?”
Kelley sighed.
“Good luck,” the guard whispered, turning and walking away.
I waved him off and stopped just outside the door.
“I’ll discuss new protocol measures with the board when we meet next month. In the meantime, maybe you should have a nurse sit with them,” he suggested.
“You’re kidding, right?” She sounded incredulous. “I’m short two at least once every shift. I never get the chance to eat, let alone use the bathroom. My nurses are run ragged, and we wouldn’t have any spare time to sit in a patient’s room and keep watch on him seeing as you want our times to see patients so low. To make those low we have to be able to utilize our staff, which we can’t do when one of them is tied up watching a patient when you could easily have a sitter down here doing the same thing for less pay.”
“Listen, dearheart,” Kelley started.
That’s when I backed up a few steps, then practically stomped my way to the door, put on a large fake smile and said, “Thanks for showing me the way, man. Have a good night.”
When I made my way inside without knocking, it was to find a tall, skinny man with perfectly styled hair and a three-piece suit leaning against his desk. He had his legs crossed in front of him, and his hands in his lap.
He looked like he hadn’t a care in the world, and wasn’t discussing his staff’s safety.
Pru, on the other hand, was as far from him as she could get—in the corner—with her arms crossed over her chest defensively.
She looked angry as hell but also relieved to see me there.
“Hey, darlin’,” I drawled. “The security guard showed me where to find you. I hate to rush you, but I got food in my saddlebags waiting for us. Are you ready?”
Pru’s eyes lit. “I am.”
“And who, might I ask, is this?” Kelley stood up to his full height.
He was taller than me, but not by much.
But he was definitely trying to intimidate me with his superior height.
It wouldn’t work.
The man likely hadn’t ever fought a day in his life based on the state of his obviously manicured hand.
I could take him with my eyes closed.
“This is Kelley Lowe,” Pru introduced me. “Kelley, this is…”
“Her boyfriend, Hoax Hicks. Nice to meet you.” I held out my hand for him to shake.
Kelley looked at it like it was a rabid possum instead of a hand, but inevitably took it and shook it once limply before letting it go.
My grandfather had taught me a lot over my time, and one of the things had been that you always gave a good handshake. Man, woman, or child, you treated them all the same. Gave them all the respect they deserved. Not too hard, but not soft. You don’t want them to think you’re a pussy.
I could hear my grandfather’s voice in my head plain as day. Honestly, it was almost as if he was speaking to me about this very instance.
“I can’t say that I’ve heard a lot about you,” Kelley wiped his hand on his leg like he’d gotten something slimy on it.
I barely contained the urge to laugh out loud.
“Yeah?” I looked over at Pru and winked. “We’re still pretty new, but she’s kind of a big deal to me.”
Pru visibly softened, and I knew I’d said the right thing.
Getting jealous over whatever this man said wasn’t something that I wanted to do.
She worked with the man. It was understandable that she’d talk to him.
And, admittedly, we were new so there was a chance that she wouldn’t shout from the rooftops about me just yet. If we didn’t work out—which I had a feeling that we might—she didn’t want her private life splattered all over the place just in case.
But, I got the vibe from this man that Pru didn’t particularly care for him. It’d make sense that she wouldn’t talk to him.
She had spoken with the guard about me—in length apparently—and he’d known quite a bit.
“Well, I’ll hope to hear more about this from the board,” Pru sniffed as she made her way toward me.
She had to brush by Kelley to do it, and he didn’t make the effort to try to
get out of the way even a little bit. She had to turn sideways not to touch him.
Which was likely his intent.
“Have a good one,” I told him the moment she got close enough to me.
Wrapping my arm around her, I showed her out of the room.
The moment we were at the corner of the hallway, she stopped me with a ‘wait.’
I waited.
Turning to look at her, she pulled out her phone and texted something before shoving it back into her pocket.
“Had to text Conleigh and Phoebe so they knew I made it out alive.” She rolled her eyes.
Then she threw herself at me, pressing her soft lips against mine.
Instinctively, I caught her and pulled her in close.
This wasn’t our first kiss…but it was definitely something I hadn’t experienced to that extent before.
I groaned into her mouth and tasted her, licking lightly at her tongue that made its way into my mouth.
I loved that she was the one to initiate the kiss. I loved even more that she wasn’t shy when it came to me.
When she pulled away moments later, her eyes were glazed, and she was panting lightly.
“I might’ve gotten a little overly excited that you came for me,” she whispered, looking guilty.
I pulled her back into me until I was inches from her mouth.
“You can get overly excited with me anytime,” I teased her.
Then I placed my mouth once again on hers.
She shuddered and leaned farther into the kiss.
My hand was moving south, its destination her ass, when I heard a disgusted throat clearing.
I pulled my mouth away from Pru’s and found myself staring into the angry, pissed off beyond belief eyes belonging to Kelley.
“I do believe that’s inappropriate to be doing at your place of work,” he huffed.
I looked around the abandoned hallway. “This portion of the hospital closes down at five. And, I’m sorry to say, we weren’t doing anything inappropriate in the first place. Had clothes started to come off, then it would’ve been inappropriate.”
Kelley’s eyes narrowed.
But before he could get a word in edgewise, I caught Pru by the wrist and tugged her along with me. “I hope you like cold Chinese food.”
She made an agreeing sound in the back of her throat and quickened her step.
I picked up my pace with her, and not a minute later we were outside where the security guard was standing vigil at my bike.
“You left the keys, I was concerned,” he explained his actions.
“Oh, you’re just the sweetest thing ever, Mr. M!” Pru teased.
The door behind us whooshed open, and I turned to find Kelley making his way out. He didn’t say anything else, but his glare said enough.
He didn’t like me.
The feeling was mutual, though. I sure as fuck didn’t like him.
“Hop on and I’ll give you a ride to your car. Then I’ll follow you home,” I instructed.
She didn’t waste time, practically hopping on it like an excited child.
Grinning because I couldn’t help it, I got on the bike behind her and started it up.
“My dad and I used to do this,” she said seconds before I started the engine.
She pointed me down a long street, then around the corner of a building where her car—a 1970 Buick painted an olive green—lay in wait.
I grinned at her explanation for parking so far away.
“It’s just that I don’t like people parking next to my car. My dad and I spent a lot of time on this bad girl, and I don’t want anything to happen to it. I love it so much,” she explained.
I patted the outside of her thigh. “There’s no shame in loving your car, honey. Especially when you have such sentimental value in it.”
Looking up at me, she pressed a kiss to the underside of my chin, then poked a small spot right next to where she kissed me. “You have a spot right here that no hair grows.”
I grunted out an affirmative sound. “Never has. I’ve given up on any sprouts coming in there. That’s why I keep this.” I grabbed the longer part of my beard. “So long because it covers up the bald spot.”
“So it’s kind of like a comb-over for your beard?” she teased.
I dug my fingers into her ribs, causing her to shriek with laughter.
She looked so fucking pretty right then that I couldn’t help myself. I had to kiss her.
Guessing my intent, she tilted her head back and turned slightly, allowing me better access to her mouth.
I took possession of her lips, deepening the kiss while also allowing my hands to slide up her sides.
I didn’t move them around her front, but I wanted to.
Especially when she shifted on her seat in an acrobatic move I would’ve been proud of had I not been thinking with my dick at that moment in time.
One second she was facing the correct way, and the next she was kneeling on the bike’s seat between my legs, her at a higher vantage point, making me lean my head back now.
Then she took possession of the kiss, pulling back slightly to tug on my bottom lip.
My hands clenched into fists against her sides, and even though it made my bad arm thrum with a dull throb, I didn’t let up. Because if I let them go, it’d be all over her.
Her hands went to my hair, and she pulled. “How much longer do I get to enjoy this hair?”
I grinned against her lips. “Not much.”
That was a lie. Kind of anyway.
My hair came and went depending on whether I was allowed to have it during whatever mission we were on. I did what they told me to do, and if they told me to shave it all off and have a clean, baby face? Then I’d do it.
It’d hurt my heart, but I’d do it.
Luckily, those ops were few and far between.
I hadn’t had to actually shave all the way down to basic training standards grooming in a really long goddamn time.
A flash of lights had us both turning to look at the set of headlights that were pointed in our direction, and again I saw Kelley.
“Son of a bitch, does that fucker ever go away?” I grumbled, sounding as exasperated as I felt.
“No,” she answered, giving me one last chaste kiss on the mouth. “Now, follow me home so I can eat whatever you brought.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
***
Two hours later, I was aware of a few things that I hadn’t been before.
One, Pru had to be the only woman on Earth that didn’t like sweet and sour chicken. Luckily, I’d gotten a few extra kinds just in case. She was more of a beef and broccoli kind of girl.
Second, Pru liked my favorite show—Forged in Fire. It was a contest show where three metal workers competed to make the best knife or sword, and a group of judges chose the winner.
Three, Pru was a cuddler.
And I’m not talking about a minor cuddler, either. She was a major cuddler. She was also a happy cuddler. When she was curled up into my side while we were eating, her entire demeanor changed—became sweeter.
“You finished?” She held out her hand for my empty boxes.
I nodded but didn’t hand them to her. Instead, I took her empties out of her hand and walked them over to the trash with mine before coming back and picking up a fortune cookie.
“Here,” I tossed it to her.
She ripped into it and started to break hers open with the same enthusiasm that I did mine.
“A short stranger will soon enter your life with many blessings to share,” I read. “What does yours say?”
She squinted and pulled her paper in closer.
“Sometimes you must wait for what you most desire,” she read. “I think they’re both kind of creepy.”
I snorted and picked the little piece of paper out of her hand and placed both mine and hers on the coffee table in front of us. Then I leaned back in th
e couch and put my feet up on the table beside the fortunes. “Come ‘ere.”
She dove under my arm and cuddled in next to me, groaning like a contented cat.
Chuckling, I reached for the remote that was on the arm of the couch and scrolled through her DVR for the next recorded show of Forged in Fire.
“This episode is one of my favorites,” I told her as I hit play.
She hummed in agreement. “I like the way the judge gets all animated about the scroll work that the contestant had time to do. I think that’s what won him the show.”
We stayed like that for hours, talking about the show. What we wanted to do the next day, and whether or not I was attending a party in two weeks’ time.
Which ended up taking us somewhere I hadn’t really wanted to go.
“You’re leaving,” she guessed.
I nodded, not wishing to put voice to the words.
She sighed. “I was expecting it, to be honest. I was just hoping we’d have longer.”
As much as I wanted to remain right where I was, I had other responsibilities.
Knowing that she wanted me to stay, though? That was making my heart warm.
“When I was fourteen, my mother and father committed suicide.”
She gasped. “Oh, no.”
I nodded. “I was lost and alone. I had Bayou and Brielle. I had my grandfather, Dixie. I had my other aunts and uncles…but I was lost. I acted out. Seriously, the only thing that kept me in line was this Army recruiter I met at the mall.”
“You met an Army recruiter at the mall?” she asked.
I nodded. “I was trying to steal a dildo from Spencer’s—the gag gift shop?”
Her lips turned up at the corners.
“I had it down my pants and one of the salesmen ran after me. I was a fast little fuck and made it out of the mall and to the front doors when I was caught around the throat by an Army recruiter. He power slammed me like those wrestlers do and that goddamn dildo nearly rammed up my ass. It was awful.” I grinned. “After returning the dildo and being humiliated by not just the recruiter but the salesman, I went back home only to find that the recruiter followed me. He told my uncle—Bayou’s father—who I was living with at the time what happened. Then I was forced to join their ROTC program.”
My Bad- Lani Lynn Vale Page 7
